Foldable Skateboard, BOA

Introduction: Foldable Skateboard, BOA

Finally!!! I figured out a way to do what i have had in my head for some time now. Its not perfect, but it works and does the job that I want it to.

So, I have been wanting to make a skateboard that can fold up/break down and be stored in a backpack. I'm a college student and had the intention of being able to skate to class and then throw my skateboard in my backpack instead of having to carry it everywhere (turns out my farthest class was only a 5 min walk anyways but whatever). And its nice for just skating to get food somewhere or, my new intention, skating to work and then just throwing it in my backpack.

Step 1: Materials Needed

For this instructable you will need to gather some materials. You will need:
-skateboard trucks, wheels, bearings
-an aluminum skateboard deck (got mine off ebay for about $40 shipped)
-2 BOA dials taken off some snowboard boots, wakeboard boots, ect. (sorry for the bad pictures of them, i've only tried it with the oval shaped BOA dials, but i'm pretty sure the circle ones will work too)
-some tools like a drill, saw that cuts through metal, gorilla glue type stuff, screws, skateboard hardware, BOA laces, metal rods about 1/4" thick

Step 2: First Steps

Ok so there are a few things you need to do. Each truck needs to have two cuts made into them on the side opposite of the kingpin. I made 4 cuts on my trucks while i was trying some other ways to attach them, so i guess do as i say not as i do.

Also, you need to cut the board into 3 pieces. I made straight cuts right inbetween the 4 holes on the deck. I'm not great at explaining everything, so my pictures will speak louder than my words.

Step 3: Making the Board One Piece Again

ok so this is the part that i could not figure out for the longest time. The reason i chose the aluminum board was because it is hollow in the middle allowing me to add stuff in it. So, i cut up some about 1/4" rods and stuck them into the middle holes of the board. Some of the rods would go in about 4 inches deep and some 1/2 an inch, so that is why they aren't all straight and pretty. I used something like gorilla glue to hold them securely in place. I glued about 15 rods onto both the nose and the tail of the board. While they were drying, i slid them into the board so that they would be in the perfect position once they hardened. the pictures of the rods are on the next step, my bad.

Step 4: Attaching the Trucks to the Board

this is where the BOA lacing system comes into play. the pictures pretty much explain it. I actually did glue in 4 pieces of skateboard hardware on the board. This was so that when you place the trucks on the board, you just stick the trucks in 2 of the screws and then tighten it down with the reel. It makes it so the trucks will stay aligned and not move around. Again the picture will show it best.

Step 5: Hardware on the Board

so i wanted the board to look as much like a normal board as possible. That is in part why i glued the skateboard hardware in the board. I also added hardware where the lacing system runs. Just check out the pictures to see what i mean.

Step 6: Put It All Together and Ride

So after all these steps, and after you lace the boa lacing correclty, you just need to slide the nose and tail into the middle section, put the trucks on, tighten them down and make sure that the lacing goes into the holes through the slits that you cut. This project has taken me a long time and it still is not perfect. The nose and tail are not completely solid and strong when connected to the board, there is a bit of bending. But it is still definatley skate-able. I've really only tested the board for about 30min. Here are my list of pros and cons:

Pros:
-Folds up
-compact
-sweet

Cons:
-Heavier due to the metal rods
-Aluminum decks are kind of ghetto, have ridges in the top as you can tell from the pictures
-not practical for doing lots of tricks on

So just to let you know, i'm weight about 145. I did a bunch of ollies, 180's, kickflips and everything seemed to be pretty fine. I did however break a lace after doing a 180, but it was a lace off an old snowboard boot, so i dunno. It does look like there is a lot of tension on the laces, so we'll see if it holds up. I would love any input on how to make this board better, stronger, lighter, anything at all! thanks!

no thanks, the reason people say that sh*t is because it is way more practical to buy a mini than to buy an aluminum deck and cut it up and add weight to it just to cut off a couple inches of length. Not to mention the case he used added width to it, hes prob carrying around just as much surface area if not more than leaving the skate alone to begin with. I have boa system on my snowboard boots too and they are horrible, would never trust them to hold my skateboard together. its basically a rube goldberg, if you want a more compact skate get one that is more compact, dont buy one that is bigger and try to figure out a complicated way of cutting and reattaching it together.

I'd like to see someone figure out a way to do this so it hinges in the middle, the board isn't that much smaller for having the nose and tail cut off, but if you could keep in strong and come up with a locking mechanism that doesn't get in the way of board slides you'd be in business.
nice use of the BOA locks too.

if u want the broads nose and tail in place u should look at motor cross boots boot buckels u could put them under the broad on the left and right of each truck and im sure that u could find a pair of old boots some where for cheap and take the buckels off or u could be really ghetto and use belts let me how it works out if u every try it

Interesting application for Boa. You may have issues with the lace breaking as they are not designed to exit the reel in that direction. Also, additional lace crossings would help take some load off the reel. That's an old reel, there are stronger ones than that now. cool stuff.

so i tested so more today, the board is fine with just riding around the street, doing kickflips and ollies, but it wasn't doing so well with 180's. The BOA reel went loose when i would land, and usually the front truck would fall off. i think its too much force to come down on like that when you are spinning and landing a 180. I'm still really happy with it, it will be great once i make a case for it to stick in my backpack.

It's an interesting instructable, sure, but I can't see the board standing up to anything but the most gentle of use.
I'd love to hear how you get on with it in actual use, and how you may have overcome any difficulties you encounter in using it....?